BACKGROUND: Electrospinning is widely used to produce nanofibers; however, not every polymer can be electrospun into nanofibers. To enhance electrospinability, much effort has been made in designing new apparatus, such as vibration-electrospinning, magneto-electrospinning and bubble-electrospinning. RESULTS: A representative non-ionic surfactant, TritonR X-100, is used to enhance electrospinability. The surfactant is added to an electrospun poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) polymer solution, and a dramatic reduction in surface tension is observed. As a result, a moderate voltage is needed to produce fine nanofibers, which are commonly observed during the conventional electrospinning procedure only at elevated voltage. CONCLUSION: The novel strategy produces smaller nanofibers than those obtained without surfactants, and the minimum threshold voltage is much decreased. (C) 2008 Society of Chemical Industry.